I’ve always been someone badly bitten by the travel bug. Quarterly getaways are almost a necessity for the sake of my sanity and having a baby wasn’t going to curb that.
After 21 months and 8 trips around the world with my baby, I can safely say that travelling with a little one isn’t as bad as some parents make it out to be, you just need to be well-equipped with the right baby gear. Here’s a list of long-term baby investments I recommend to all parents looking to kickstart their overseas family adventures and build a castle of memories with their kiddo.
PSA: You’ll also be able to purchase some of these items tax-free on iShopChangi.com for your upcoming trip and collect your loot at the airport!
Image credit: @deuxpetitskoalas
Every parent knows there is a 100% correlation between sleep and your baby’s mood. Rested baby = happy baby. And while it’s easy to get into the groove of a night routine back home, being in a completely new environment throws that well-established sleep schedule right out the window.
The trick here is to replicate your home environment as closely as possible. If you’re in the co-sleeping camp, then investing in a baby nest with the likes of Dockatot and Snuggle Me Organic will work wonders in getting your baby to feel the comforts of home.
Image credit: @saltstains.shop
If you don’t want to limit your accommodation options to that of baby-friendly hotels, then investing in a portable travel crib like this 2.8KG Phil & Ted Traveller will give you that peace of mind knowing your baby won’t take a tumble head-first off the edge of the bed in the middle of the night.
It’ll also double up as a playpen when you desperately need some alone time to sneak a leak or pack your luggage without your baby getting into every single item you own.
Get the Phil & Ted Traveller here.
Those who’ve seen my Bangkok with Baby guide will know just how much I can’t live without my soft-structured carrier.
This nifty invention works like a backpack and will keep your precious cargo close when you’re out and about exploring rougher terrains or crowded areas such as night markets and major tourist hotspots where strollers are not feasible.
Some carriers will even let you back carry – a position that’ll give you some well-deserved peace and keep bub’s hands away from hot drinks!
On top of all this, it’ll give your bub a safe cocoon for them to nurse and nap even if you haven’t got a rest stop penciled into your itinerary. It’ll also free up your hands for more important things like shopping and eating on the go.
Pro-tip: Always go for an ergonomic carrier such as the Tula to give your baby’s legs and spine proper support!
Get the Tula on iShopChangi.com here.
Most parents boil water with the hotel room’s kettle and call it a day. But if you’re a next-level kiasu parent who can’t overlook the possibility of contaminants and bacteria lurking around in your baby’s water supply, you’ll need to get yourself a portable water filter such as the GO Berkey.
It’s a handy little stainless steel contraption that fits easily into any luggage and will supply your fam with fresh, baby-safe water for all your drinking, cooking and formula-making needs. The best part? You’ll never need to buy another bottle of overpriced water again.
Unless your itinerary revolves around shopping malls or includes multiple hotel room pit stops, the likelihood of finding a source of piping hot drinkable water is close to zilch.
Image credit: ezbuy.sg
When you’ve got a formula-drinking baby on your hands who needs to be fed at 4-hour intervals, it’s handy to have a portable electric flask on hand that’ll boil your drinking water on the go at a touch of a button.
This pocket-sized electric kettle conveniently fits into diaper bags and can also heat up home-made meals such as porridge or soup when you’re out and about.
Not factoring lifestyle into my stroller purchasing decision was one of the biggest rookie mistakes I made as a first-time mom. This lack of foresight eventually saw me forking out a couple of extra hundreds to get myself one that was light enough to throw over my shoulder when not in use.
Bringing a cabin-friendly stroller such as the Babyzen YOYO+ on board the plane can help eliminate the long wait for your normal stroller to resurface as a bulky item at the baggage collection zone. It’ll also serve you well on city holidays to give your arms and back a rest from carrying your baby and free up space in the boot of taxis when you need to get from one place to another.
The Babyzen YOYO+ also comes with a one-hand fold for a zippy stow-away
Get the Babyzen YOYO+ on iShopChangi.com here.
Enjoy the blissful period of exclusively breast- or bottle-feeding because once your little one embarks on the messy path of solids, you’ll have another massive consideration on your plate: mealtimes.
With things like sodium and sugar levels to be aware of, finding a restaurant serving up baby-friendly meals is akin to searching for a needle in a haystack. And in countries like Thailand where spice is life, it’s almost impossible to dine out with baby unless you DIY your own baby meals.
Priced affordably under $35, these mini cooking pots assist you in whipping up anything from simplified chawanmushi to a bowl of nourishing chicken soup for you to flex those mom skills from your hotel room kitchenette.
Image credit: @the.kitchenlife
As someone who can barely whip up a bowl of decent fried rice, Lilo’s ikan bilis and mushroom seasoning powder really helped inject a whole lot of flavour into my 20-minute meals. Just add all your pre cut vegetables and meats to the electric lunch box with some water, then sprinkle in a dash of seasoning for taste.
Viola! Healthy and tasty meals for your baby without endless hours of simmering.
If you’re planning a holiday down south to the land of koalas and kangaroos to expose your babe to the wonders of road tripping, you’ll need to add “car seat” to your packing list lest you find yourself on the receiving end of a fat traffic fine.
Image credit: @good_design_thinking
Location aside, if renting a car is on the agenda, then a car seat is a necessity. Save yourself the hassle and extra KG by opting for a convertible car seat like the Urban Kanga Portable Car Seat that folds small enough to be packed into any suitcase and weighs only 3KG.
Those who’ve yet to make the transition to a toddler car seat and also consider this bad boy for day-to-day use or Grab rides in Singapore to evade that Grab Family surcharge.
Get the Urban Kanga Portable Car Seat on iShopChangi.com here.
There are many factors to consider when you travel with a baby, and flight timings are one of them. If the flight you’re booking coincides with a mealtime, you might want to bring your home-cooked meal on board.
In-flight meals aren’t known for being the healthiest, so you can forget about ordering something your baby might be able to stomach onboard. Even on my flights with SQ, the baby meals consisted of purees and teething husks – not the most nutritious or substantial. Thermal food jars from Thermos or Skip Hop will keep your home-cooked meals hot for up to 7 hours and even comes with a spork for easy feeding – no more mealtime anxiety.
Get the Skip Hop Insulated Food Jar on iShopChangi.com here.
Babies, as we know them, are unpredictable. A sudden merlion of milk vomit, a total poopy blowout, spilling an entire bowl of food all on a brand new outfit – nothing is beneath them. And when you’re confined in an aircraft with an accident-prone little one, you’ll need all the emergency prep you can get.
Wet bags will come to the rescue should you ever come face-to-face with the harrowing experience of a diaper explosion. Soiled, smelly clothes? The wet bag will conceal it! You won’t have to worry about lingering scents in the plane cabin either.
And once you’re back in the comforts of home or your hotel, just rinse it out and hang it to dry. It’ll be like nothing ever happened.
When you’re already lugging 101 baby essentials around in your travel carry-on, the last thing you need is a breast pump that weighs you down. Zoom straight in for lightweight and portable pumps such as Hegen’s PCTO Electric Breast Pump which you’ll easily be able to dump in your diaper bag alongside a small power bank to express milk on board.
Bonus points for it relatively quiet so you won’t have to worry about attracting strange stares mid-pump. Just don’t forget that nursing cover to protect your modesty!
Get the Hegen electric breast pump on iShopChangi.com here.
No matter how prepared we want to be as mothers, there are moments in our everyday life where “mom brain” is all too real – especially when it comes to travel. With so many different things to consider, even with a comprehensive packing list, you might find yourself forgetting the obvious.
Thankfully, iShopChangi.com, Changi Airport’s online duty-free store stocks a myriad of baby & child products to make #momlife that much easier. From travel cots and car seats to nursing essentials and formula, you can do all your last-minute pre-flight shopping as late as 12 hours before your flight and collect your loot from one of their collection counters around the terminals.
You can also grab yourself a travel set of baby toiletries such as this California Baby one for convenience!
Even if the last-minute life isn’t for you, you’ll still be able to do your GST-free shopping on iShopChangi.com up to one month before your flight and opt to have your buys delivered straight to your doorstep.
This festive period is also an opportune moment to make all those important purchases for your next upcoming trip as you’ll be saving over $100 on top of the tax-free prices thanks to iShopChangi.com’s ongoing Christmas promotions!
For more parenting tips, do read:
This post was brought to you by iShopChangi.com.
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